Food promoted on an online food delivery platform in a Brazilian metropolis during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: a longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Objective: To analyse food advertised on an online food delivery (OFD) platform during 16 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Design: Longitudinal study. We randomly selected foods advertised on the OFD app’s home page, classifying the food items into water; natural juices and smoothies; vegetables; fruits; traditional meals and pasta; ultra-processed beverages; ice cream and candies, and salty packaged snacks; sandwiches; savoury snacks; and pizza. We also registered the marketing strategies used to promote the food items, such as photos, discounts, ‘combo deals’, and messages on healthiness, value for the money, tastiness, and pleasure. Setting: Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Participants: 1,593 food items. Results: In general, the OFD platform most commonly promoted traditional meals and pasta, ultra-processed beverages, and sandwiches—these food groups were offered 20–25% of the time during the 16 weeks. There were no promotions for water during the whole period, and the least common promotions were those for natural juices and smoothies, vegetables, and fruits (<5%). The most common food promotion strategies were photos (>80%) and discounts (>95%), while approximately 30% of the offers featured combo deals. Messages on tastiness, pleasure, and value for the money varied from 15% to 40%. Conclusion: Although the OFD platform offered traditional meals and pasta, most of the foods and beverages advertised were unhealthy and promoted with persuasive strategies. This finding highlights a growing public health concern: an increase in unhealthy eating patterns during the pandemic.

Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China

“…For example, by saving time spent on food shopping and home cooking, OFD may also reduce physical activity time, resulting in an increase in health problems associated with sedentary lifestyle [ 8 , 13 , 14 ]. Moreover, due to lack of information or labeling, it is difficult to guarantee the nutritional quality of OFD food [ 15 – 17 ], not to mention meeting the individualized nutritional needs [ 18 , 19 ]. These may lead to a negative impact on public health.…”

“…Likewise, Stephens et al (2020) [ 14 ] suggested that standardized online ordering of fast food similar to pizza was popular among OFD consumers in the US. Horta et al (2022) [ 19 ] found that traditional meals and pasta set meals 4 were the food items most frequently pushed to consumers by Brazilian OFD platforms.…”

“…Moreover, Janssen et al (2018) [ 42 ] and Dana et al (2021) [ 43 ] suggested that the low-nutrient food through OFD is a key factor leading to overweight and obesity. Stephens et al (2020) [ 14 ] and Horta et al (2022) [ 19 ] pointed out that long-term reliance on OFD may lead to chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.…”

A Thematic Review on Using Food Delivery Services during the Pandemic: Insights for the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…The use of food delivery services may contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes [ 62 ]. Food safety and health issues have raised people’s concerns [ 91 , 92 ]; however, online food delivery platforms always seem to promote unhealthy food [ 93 ]. During the pandemic, people’s diets changed, especially as unhealthy diets increased [ 45 , 93 , 94 ].…”

Food Outlet Access and the Healthiness of Food Available ‘On-Demand’ via Meal Delivery Apps in New Zealand

“…This may include, for example, finding patterns in use across populations and running trials on when and how to prompt and offer different outlets and items to trigger further and higher-value purchases. These goals are opaque to individual users of the services, and may be at odds with public health goals [ 48 , 49 ]. An Australian initiative where researchers partnered with young ‘citizen scientists’ to track the promotion of unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling that they saw on their social media feeds is an example of efforts to expose the ‘dark marketing’ strategies that target consumers [ 50 ].…”